God’s Word frequently states our need to “consider” (ponder)(think upon) biblical truths. So this section is dedicated to those biblical truths that would cause us to ponder.
If we have believed in Jesus, our faith was not fashioned on our own anvil, but bestowed on us from the armory of God. Faith is as much the gift from God as salvation itself. We cannot in our own cases do otherwise, than ascribe all the glory to sovereign grace.
“You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.”
“I am found of them who sought me not.”
No sinner is beforehand with God, but God’s preventative grace outruns the sinner’s first desire, yes, divine grace comes to dead souls when as yet they are not capable of a right emotion. Poor trembling soul, Jesus can come to you if you cannot come to Him. If your miseries have shut you up, they cannot shut Him out. Your extremity is God’s opportunity therefore be of good cheer.
A crowded sanctuary does not necessarily mean a surrendered people. Hearing a resurrection story is not the same as living in resurrection power. Many want the benefits of Christianity without the cost of lordship. They want a Savior who removes guilt, but not a Lord who demands surrender. The resurrection was never meant to be merely believed – it was meant to change everything. Because He rose, truth is not flexible, sin is not harmless, repentance is not optional, and holiness is not legalism. The question is not only, “Do you believe Jesus rose from the dead?” The deeper question is:
Has the risen Christ conquered your heart?
Don’t pay so much attention to the wedding that you forget the marriage. Evangelism is not just about conversion.
Jesus says to “baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things I have taught you.” You cannot separate evangelism from discipleship. We are dunking so many people that are falling away, sealing them in their unbelief, because we have moved from evangelism to salesmanship. In the parable of the soils, three of them sprung up, but only one of them bears fruit. That means 66% of those who looked like something happened… didn’t.
The church does not exist to entertain the saved. It exists to train disciples to glorify God and reach the lost.
Biblical repentance means a change of mind that leads to a change of action.
You haven’t truly repented of a sin if you’re planning to commit it tomorrow.
Repentance isn’t about sinlessness, but it is about a genuine heart change that actually manifests itself in holier living.
A man is not saved against his will, but he is made willing by the operation of the Holy Ghost. A mighty grace which he does not wish to resist enters into the man, disarms him, makes a new creature of him, and he is saved.
—Charles Spurgeon
Adoption is the highest privilege of the gospel. The traitor is forgiven, brought in for supper, and given the family name. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.”
— J.I. Packer
Jesus treated Judas so well that none of the disciples knew he was the one who would betray Jesus.
That is what loving your enemy truly looks like.
Christian, God knew the worst about you when he first accepted you, far better than you did. He accepted you for Jesus’ sake, and will not change that basis of his acceptance now.
